Anyone running an on-premises Exchange server was surprised by a fatal error early in the year. Systems can no longer transmit mail. Administrators only received the error message that the date value “2201010001” could not be converted to an integer. The maximum value of a 32-bit signed integer is 2147483647, so the variable cannot be saved.
This caused a problem with updating the MS Filter Engine. The program has the ability to detect malware and is updated regularly. The software has a ten-digit version number starting with the current year. Since the latest version was published on January 1, 2022 and was stored in a 32-bit integer variable, the value could not be processed correctly. Missing filters ensure that no more emails are issued. The bug affects all versions of self-hosted Exchange. So Outlook 365 clients are not affected.
Administrators can use a workaround
Like some – Like some Reddit users Report, the anti-malware filter can be deactivated. All emails will then be delivered again. As long as the storage space is not completely exhausted, all messages that were initially blocked are then moved again. To deactivate the filter, you must execute the “Disable-AntiMalwareScanning.ps1” script from the installation directory and restart the service.
So far, the Redmond-based company has yet to comment on the issue. However, it is conceivable that the responsible developers will fix the bug relatively quickly. It is said that Microsoft has already provided an update. However, according to some officials, this does not fix the error. So it is still not clear when a functional patch will appear.
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